Just to add my experience: I bought a cpo '14 Tech with 65K miles in February. Soon after (despite long test drives?) I became concerned about the transmission, road noise and rough ride. First I bought the s-vcm device, which did help a little, and at little cost in terms of mpg. But still not happy, I waited until service was due and took it in to Duval Acura in Jacksonville. After a test drive the sm agreed there were issues. In addition to transmission and road noise issues, I asked them to check the suspension thoroughly.

They did the software update and transmission flush per the tsb, and replaced the front driver side wheel bearing. They inspected the struts, etc and found no problem. Also did the "fix" on my homelink garage door opener so it not only closes my garage door, but also opens it. All under warranty except the home link fix.

The difference so far is night and day. The RDX is still firm and pretty bumpy on imperfect roads, but the tranny is smooth and road noise is cut to almost nothing. The rough ride on marginal roads is much more acceptable without the transmission sputtering and shaking (and with good wheel bearings). Only driven about 100 miles, so I'm not declaring victory yet, but so far very pleased with the results. Not sure if I'll even reinstall the s-vcm (except that I feel it may help avoid downstream issues... so maybe I will). Dealer stressed the importance of transmission service faithfully every 30k.

 

Bought a 2014 RDX with 60k 6 months ago with the same transmission issues described here but mostly a sight slipping climbing a hill. The tac jumps a little when it happens. Very disappointed in Acura as I have had great luck with a few Hondas. Bought new a 2005 Accord 6MT that is the most reliable car I've ever owned after 300k miles and still going strong. Of course that is a manual trans. The RDX was for my wife how only drives 3K a year. Dutchml said his problem went away after replacing CV joints. If he is out there, has that fix held up? If not I've decided to sell this RDX and take a big loss rather that try to fix something that can't be fixed.

 

Did the VCM fix and it didn't help my issues

 

Hello, did the CV joint permanently fixed the issue?

 

Yesterday I brought the 2017 RDX into service clocked at 64k km. I told them that the transmission judders and it aggressive when it is downshifting and upshifting. They updated the software for the torque converter and did a triple tranny flush. It seems to be better now and it feels brand new. On a side note, I also had issues with the brakes squealing. They changed the rotors and pads and now it feels as good as new.

All was covered under warranty as these are defective issues that Acura is aware about.

 

Hi guys, brand new here and just picked up a 2013 RDX with about 45,000 miles from a previous owner. Decided to go for it because of the spectacular low mileage (being that it's a 6-yr old car now) and it met my price range. When I test drove it with the owner, I purposely hit the gas pretty hard when I was making a turn, I immediately felt the "judder" that everyone's been talking about...felt it like was happening between 1 to 2 or 2 to 3. I'm feeling pretty lame now that there's been many, many years of folks documenting this issue and wish I knew about this forum before I made the commitment. Feeling a bit disappointed although this has been the car I've been eyeing for several, several years. Hoping that with the long history of issues people have had, my dealership can quickly pinpoint and resolve what I've experienced thus far.

Couple of observations I made now that I've been driving the car for a few days and reading up on numerous threads here:

• Judder from transmission- seems like the consensus solution is to get the software reprogrammed and tranny flushed before resorting to a possible TC replacement. (TSB 17-018)
• When I'm traveling maybe between 40-70 mph, I hear a popping sound from the rear of the car. I initially thought maybe something in the spare tire compartment was loose and moving around...but sounds like another known issue. (TSB 16-059, not sure if this is it?)
• The right rear seat-back does not fold down when I pull the release handle in the cargo area. Looks like this was a known issue from the beginning of time. (TSB 12-025)

With all that being said, because I purchased this outright from a private party, what warranties would I even have at this point that Acura would be willing to resolve for me? It looks like all the issues I've outlined have been well-documented.

Any feedback and thoughts are highly appreciated...thanks!

I almost forgot to mention that the previous owner mentioned yet another known issue that's been documented...the brakes do make an occasional squeak when I'm coming to a stop. Apparently her dealership recommended the rotors to be resurfaced the next time the brake pads need to be replaced.

 

With the age of the car you have no warranty at all, but you could always ask if the dealer will goodwill anything. I had a friend buy a 2006 TL a few years ago which had a cracked dashboard. The dealer agreed to provide the part if he paid for labor. Good luck.

 

Thanks, do you think it'd be best to do a walk-in and speak to an adviser or maybe call a few dealers to ask?

 

Not sure about that. I would probably go in and see if I could get any sympathy.

 

Going in for the TSB 17-018 service. I've owned my 2013 RDX for 3-4 years now dealing with this issue since we bought the car at 60k Miles, now has 110k. I wish the dealer told me about the flush / software update.

Hopefully this makes a difference. If not 2 more year till I sell the car anyway.

Wish me luck.

 

Update on my results. The car was a little better at first but still had some issues. I have taken over driving the car and driving longer distances to work. After a 50 mile round trip and a few 100 miles of driving it seems that the car has learned a lot. This is now the first time shifting into 3rd gear happens smoothly. The abrupt premature downshifting is also gone. The engine / trans reprogramming seemed to really do the trick, so just changing the trans-fluid is not going to fix this if you have the same issue. Cost about $300 for a triple fluid change and the reprogramming in North NJ.

 

I went through this issue as well in my 2016 AWD. Mine was most prominent in downshifting between 3-2-1. Particularly when I was going city speeds around 45 mph and coming up to a red light without having to break, just coasting with my foot off the gas. The transmission would be very jerky to the point where it would throw me forward in the driver seat. From 3 to 2 and again from 2 to 1. I took it to the dealer and they flushed the transmission fluid and "reprogrammed the ECU" with some kind of software update for the transmission and the problem is now completely gone. It's been about 10k miles since the "fix" and its still smooth.

 

ACC20YRS I am currently also looking to get the s vcm but there are just too many options out there. I tried contacting a seller but no response yet. I do have a 2014 rdx with 74000m. Wpuld share wich and where to get the vcm? There are s vcm and muzzlers how do i know wich one i need? I was thinking about muzzler II but like i said seller is not answering. Thanks

 

Here is a copy & paste from a thread over at the Odyclub. I have been a member there for 18 or so years. Just bought, and muzzled, a 2015 EX-L Odyssey.
Also have a 2016 RDX Tech that my wife drives. Both of these vehicles have the same engine/trans, with the Acura tuned differently. The Muzzler devices come in two types,
active and passive. The first ones were passive, with a single resister to trick the engine management system that the engine was not quite warmed up enough to make VCM happen.
Then the next ones, often made by the same folks, have either a dial to adjust the offset, or swappable resisters. With any of those, VCM can still happen under the certain conditions.
The S-VCM and the VCMTunerII Advanced are "active" and adjust themselves automatically. VCM never happens. Those last two also will shut themselves off if the engine overheats
and will show a raised temp on the gauge. The VCMTunerII also shuts itself off when the engine idles for a given amount of time to allow idle relearn procedures. Those are rarely needed
now, but there are components that, when replaced, still require them. You should be able to easily Google most of these.

"The current state of the art is the VCMTuner II, with the S-VCM controller slightly behind it. These both disable VCM equally well (which is 100% of the time), but the VCMTuner II gets the edge for its ability to recognize when the engine is being warmed up at a standstill for maintenance and repair purposes. The S-VCM controller has to have its power lead physically disconnected for this intentional full warm-up sequence to happen.

The MaxMuzzler (from forum member maxud) is probably the best of the resistance-based options with a dial-operated potentiometer letting you customize the level of adjustment to thr ECT1 signal. The VCMuzzler II (from forum member verbatim) achieves a similar effect using swappable resistors - you get 5 different choices shipped standard with the VCMuzzler II.

The downside to the best-performing VCMTuner II and S-VCM controller is that they are relatively expensive compared to the other two. But if you're starting from scratch, I'd say cough up once for the best possible option and be done with it.

There are other options floating around eBay and such, but they're either copycats or crappy knockoffs. I'd generally advise you to avoid them - they aren't worth it."

All of them are well made, with factory style connectors, easily removable if one has to take a vehicle still under warranty in. The two most expensive ones require a battery connection and are a little more involved in terms
of install/removal. But not a lot. Here is my take: If you live in a very temperate climate, one of the passive ones is probably all you need. If you live where the temp swings are extreme, get an active one. I am in Southern California and got a dial type passive one. Left it on the default setting and never see the "ECO" light the Hondas with VCM have. Our Acuras do not have these lights.

 

Thank you for the i fo. Now i have better knowledge about the situation. I have decided to go with the turnerII. Thanks for the help

 

Its been around 3 weeks now since i installed the vcm canceling device. At first i dint notice that much of a difference, but then yes i realize that the roughness on downshifting had significantly decreased. The problem is that there is still a little bit of roughness. Is not completely gone. Next i will do the trans fluid flush and the update hopefully that solves it..the revs needle still rises a bit when switching gears during downshift..about the rough ride i also checked the suspension and found it is still in good shape..looks like thats just an imperfection on this particular car

 

On my Odyssey I did not even feel the judder until I muzzled the VCM. With both done my van is now finally smooth. Just remember folks, a Honda automatic will still need regular fluid changes. That is the number 3 on the service required information display. I think the RDX will set that at the 6th oil change (45k). In the Odyssey/Pilot/Ridgeline (and MDX?) it is set on the 4th, or every 30k. On those very heavy and usually loaded vehicles, every 15k is sometimes advisable. These are normal drain & fills, not complete flushes.

 

Wish I would’ve found this before I bought the car. Bought a 2015 RDX last year with 43k on it. Always thought it shifted weird but just figured it was normal to the car. I’m getting the TSB “repair” done this weekend. Hopefully it works.

 

I had the service done on Saturday (along with the timing belt service) and the shifting is so much better. It’s still a little weird during 2nd and 3rd but honestly, everything is so much smoother. If you haven’t had it done, do it!

 

Hello everyone. I want to put my input in this thread. I own RDX 2014 (fwd). It is the first car I have purchased. It had 112k when I got it. After a couple of weeks of owing it, I noticed it had bad shifts in transmission, when accelerating and slowing down, it was a mystery for me. I did trany oil change with a computer update (as many people here did) but it didn't fix anything. I did a transmission reset and it didn't change anything. But recently my generator went down and it was covered with oil from Valve Assy., FR. Spool (15810-R70-A04) Dealer thought it was leaking from the valve cover and after they did this service it was still leaking. I was able to blame them for not checking the leak and returning the car with a leak to ruin a brand-new generator. I attached a PDF of the Honda recall on this part (see the link). They changed only the top part for free. After that shifting became WAY better. When I accelerate I only feel the first to the second gear shift. When slowing down it feels good because before it felt like it is throwing me forward. I could not figure out what was wrong for 8k miles and I hope it didn't do any damage to the engine or transmission. If you have this problem I think it has something to do with the top part of 15810-R70-A04. I am a new owner and trying to learn about cars (I hope it makes sense) Thank you!

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...72366-0001.pdf

 

I had this problem a couple of years back so I called the dealership. Was told the car was just out of warranty, sorry. My research showed that a transmission flush 3 times would solve the problem. It did. Two years later, the problem is back. I discovered there's a service bulletin on the issue and I'd qualify for resolving the issue. Called the dealership and was told the Service Bulletin 17-017 only applied to vehicles bought in the USA. Huh? A known issue is only resolved with vehicles bought in the USA???? WTF?? Honda USA and Honda Canada play by different rules. I asked about a free software update but was told it'll cost me $40.!! again, WTF???? (It's .2 of an hour or a 6 minute job to do the upgrade)
Guess I'm off to buy another case of ATF DW-1 and do it myself and schedule an appointment to do a 6 minute software upgrade.
I'll be calling Honda Canada to get an explantion for the difference in policies.
Rant over....

 

That’s a bummer man! But $40 for a PCM update isn’t bad. It’s not so much the time it takes, it’s more the software and licensing we don’t own. My friend did mine but he’s an actual technician with the equipment to do it. Around here stuff like that is well over $100

 

Funny, I read this post awhile ago and thought nothing of it but this exact problem just happened to me last month. The car just died on my wife with the kids in it while she was driving. Alternator just completely went out. I never look in the engine bay, but I could see where it was leaking from and new that had to be it. Honda parts normally last way longer than that! My shop took care of the valve covers, alternator, and serpentine belt for me. Shifting feels the same to me, but I thought it was funny you had the same exact thing happen

 

Sorry to revive an old thread

I have a 2015 I bought 1.5 years ago with 53k miles which has this issue, unfixed by dealer service.

I'm just wondering....
what's the end outcome? Does the transmission eventually go out from this issue?

Or do I just drice a car w an annoying shudder for another 60k miles?

Trying to decide if I keep vs. Sell before it hits the 10 year mark.

Thanks!!